Destined
by Knowia
Summary: A take on Shank's thoughts of Luffy's bravado in Romance Dawn epi.


_**Author's Note: I do not own One Piece. **_

* * *

Foosha Village is a rather quiet, quaint little village. Hidden by Mt. Corvo from the bustling municipality, it lies far off to the east of the Kingdom of Goa, the current monarch of the Dawn Island. Foosha, as the name implies, is a village littered with the occasional wind-propelled generators. If one were to hike Mt. Corvo and looked down at the settlement, the village is certainly a picturesque sight to behold. A quiet and quaint village, is what Foosha Village is.

Small as it may be, the village do have a tavern. It was the villagers' prime source of income. To the visitors from the seas and yonder, a humble bar to get wasted. Named the Partys Bar, it was bartended by Makino, a charming young woman no older than in her twenties. With a warm smile greeting all that visited the bar, it is no wonder that visitors from the seas tend to stay a little while longer than they intended to.

Such is the case of the Red Hair Pirates. Their ship, as of late, has yet to sail from Foosha Village for the past two weeks. This is rare even for a crew known to stay on islands the captain favoured. Shanks, the said captain of the Red Hair Pirates gave "excuses" rather than answers when pestered by his crew. He was adamant on staying just a bit longer, even when rebutted many times by his trusty aide, Benn.

"The booze is good! There's no Marines here as well! I don't see why we should leave that early. The crew needs a break from all that Marine-busting. They are tired~" Shanks slurred at his convincing statement, all the while trying his very best to assure himself of otherwise before giving a satisfying burp. The captain hate to admit it, but he has reached the limits he set of staying "not drunk". Well, he IS already giddy after all and thus, see no cause to stop.

The aide of his or rather, first mate of the Red Hair Pirates sighed loudly. He is clearly weary of his captain's antics. He longed to get into "action" and by that means, the captain has to move.

"Tardy anymore and we'll have Marines knocking on our doorsteps, Shanks. We should move and you know it." Upon hearing this, Shanks flustered to get his next "excuse" ready. "But Eash Blue so peaceful~ Ooh Oooohhh I thought of a joke~ Knock! Knock! Who is itttt~! Hehe~ Who~? Who~?" The captain then tried to mimic an owl while doing a Mother Goose dance. The rest of the crew laughed boisterously at their captain and joined in as well.

At this point, Benn is trying his very, very hardest not to swear and give the captain a good "knockout" he deserves. After all, he was within earshot of the lovely bartender and a minor.

The lovely bartender, is of course, no other than Makino who is busy chuckling at the clearly-not-thinking-straight red-haired captain. On the other hand, the minor with a bandage beneath his eye is busy pouting at the drunk captain.

"Shanks! Let me go to the sea with you!" Shanks jerked his head at the source of the voice. The boy glared at the captain and in an attempt to see "eye-to-eye", tip-toed to make himself taller. Shanks chuckled. Cute, he thought, but still a midget.

"You're still a kid! Drink more milk and come talk to me when you can walk the talk!"

"I am no kid! I can swim and stuff! Let me go with you!"

"Here, have some orange juice."

"Oh, thanks."

Shanks roared at the boy's naivety. It took some time before the boy fully understood that he had been duped. A scarlet shade took over the boy's features. Before it fully sank, the crew's merry men decided to chip in.

"Cheer up Luffy! You ARE a kid and capt's trying to be nice to you. The sea is a dangerous place for a kid."

"There's sea monsters, unpredictable weathers! Name it, and the sea has it!"

The boy, Luffy, tilt his head to the side at the statement. "But Lucky Roo and Yasopp are saying how fun and free the seas are! I don't believe you." The boy looked downcast for he knew, there is a sliver of truth in what the man says. The sea is dangerous with all these aforementioned "sea monsters" roaming the vast blues. It is common sense drilled by the villagers into him; do not approach the sea if you wish to be mauled by the Lord of the Coast. Scary, indeed. However, the denizens of these blues are even more feared. They are labeled by the common folk as pirates, filth of the society. They plunder and murder as they see fit. Morale do not go hand in hand with these men. Uncle Woop Slap said so. Sister Makino agreed too. So it should be the truth, right?

Then came these "pirates". Although said to be evil, they did nothing of the sort. Maybe being drunk is part of being evil, thought Luffy as he stared at the rowdy bunch of men now busy making a mess out of Makino's bar. Alas, his opinions changed as he mingled with these "pirates". Luffy became very close with the crew members. They too, thought of Luffy nothing short but a cute little boy eager to learn of the pirating businesses and ways. They told Luffy stories of their adventures. Yasopp chipped in, or to be exact, cooed about his son to the scarred boy. He even show, or rather, "showed off" his sniping skills to Luffy. The rest of the crew could only beam at the display of Yasopp's doting display towards Luffy.

Nevertheless, never did they thought that Luffy would do something as drastic as scarring himself.

* * *

It was on the day they wished to leave Foosha Village. The seas are calm and the skies are clear. The crew was flurrying about preparing the ship for takeoff. The voyage to their destination is a long one and such, proper preparations must be done. Food and most importantly, barrels of ale were loaded onto the ship. Benn walked about instructing the crew of the usual routine and ensuring none were slacking off. Yasopp was unfurling the sails while Lucky Roo helped carried boxes of supplies with the crew members. At the far side of the pier sits Shanks which, as usual, is letting his lackeys do what they do best.

"Are you really leaving, Shanks?" Luffy walked over to Shanks with a forlorn expression. The boy wanted the pirate to stay, maybe just a little longer. He learnt many things from them, such as not all pirates are bad.

"Yea, it's about time we leave. It's nice staying in Foosha but any longer, we'll be the Rusted Pirates!" Shanks chortled, hoping the boy got his joke at least.

Except that Luffy was no longer in front of Shanks, but on the top of the pier's pole facing Shanks.

"Take me with you!"

The rest of the crew now noticed Luffy. The boy was standing on the pole and in his hand holds a knife which one of the crew members noticed was his.

"Don't be stupid, Luffy. What can you do as a kid? You can't even swim!"

Luffy knew Shanks was right, but he has better tricks up his sleeve. With this, even Shanks cannot not take him to the seas!

"I am not afraid of the sea! I'll prove it to you!" Without hesitation, Luffy stabbed beneath his left eye.

* * *

Luffy was lucky the knife did not go as deep as they thought it seemed. Thanks to that, the wound healed quick. This little incident made Shanks think twice of this little boy. Maybe he does have what it takes, he thought as he absentmindedly fiddled with his hat resting on his head.

A boy from East Blue shouting things the captain of his once did. He may be small and scrawny, but he could see the fire lit in the boy. He could be something big in the future, the red-haired captain thought. Maybe, just maybe… He could be the one.

"Looks like I'll get to enjoy Makino's food a little longer."


End file.
